EAST YORKSHIRE OPEN 16.09.2018, BRADFORD

East Yorkshire Open 2018.

Thirty three Dokan students were entered  the East Yorkshire open down Bradford on September the 16th. Only 32 turned up after Marcus Henderson broke both arms falling out of a tree. This spoiled two teams, a pair and no doubt Marcus’s weekend.

The competition itself could not have been better organised and finished at 4.20. I have not finished this early for at least 7 year. There were a few contributing factors to aid this. 1, The organiser Tony Dent knows how to run a comp. 2, The tatami were clear and the mats in good condition. 3, there was an abundance of refs, probably aided by Tony being a ref himself so they’re all his friends. It was the large volume of decent refs that made the difference here.

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The categories were hitty missy, some good some bad, team kumite had the ridiculous rule of two boys one girl in place, so it was hardly surprising there were very few teams entered. Another way to look at this situation is we left much earlier, had the sexes been split and more teams entered our early departure would have been thwarted.

We had a couple of bad decisions in kata and a couple of lucky ones too, it works in swings and roundabouts, win some loose some. Kumite, a couple of areas had refs with flags so heavy they couldn’t lift them but overall it was a very well refereed comp. And, thoroughly enjoyable.

Kids who excelled : lots of students done really well and I was very pleased with my squad, the banter and laughs amongst the older girls was lovely as they all supported each other through the day. Emily Sproat, Eleisha, Lola, Fran Sawkill, Maddison, Katie Hunnam and Reuben all showed good improvements. Archie done well and Gabriella Pick was fantastic in her first tournament.  These few have earned a mention because of visible improvements, many other students done just as well or better and at the next competition if they improve upon this one in skill not results they will be mentioned there. Great club atmosphere from a great set of kids.

The beauty of competing is you always learn something new at every comp.

 

View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://www.dokan.co.uk/2018/east-yorkshire-open-16-09-2018-bradford-3.html#sigProId197a008d9b